


A Winter Wonderland

by acostarsandwriting



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Mistletoe, Snowball Fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 18:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17006625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acostarsandwriting/pseuds/acostarsandwriting





	A Winter Wonderland

Elain wiped her hands on her apron, examining the freshly baked batch of cookies in front of her. She’d been in the kitchen for days, working on the winter solstice dinner. Nuala and Cerridwen had flown in and out of the house with supplies, groceries, and decorations for the mansion her sister and her mate had built. But today, Elain had decided she wanted the kitchen to herself. Cassian was still training with Nesta in the mountains, Feyre had a gathering with her new art school, Rhysand had court business to attend to, and Mor and Amren had gone shopping. Again. The only other person that had no obligations was Azriel, but he knew better than to enter the kitchen when Elain was baking.

Elain looked around the room. In hindsight, she could’ve used the shadow twins’ help – the kitchen was a mess. Pots and pans lined the stove, the counters were covered in cookies and flour, and the table in the corner was stacked with food ready for their winter solstice dinner. More food was still waiting to be prepared, as Elain had insisted they’d prepare something extra for the people of Velaris that had lost loved ones in the war. She didn’t speak of it much, but the cooking made her feel like she could give them back a bit of happiness again. After all, it had worked for her.

Outside, snow had started to fall, and the lands had been covered with a blanket of white. She was so focused on watching the flakes swirl down, she almost didn’t notice the shadows creeping into the doorway.

“Admiring the view?” Azriel’s voice had a bright tone to it, at odds with the shadows curling around him. A few flakes of snow were still stuck in his dark hair, as if he only just came in. “If I’m correct, we’ll have another night of snow. Rhys had better hurry himself back here before I have to shovel all of that away myself.”  
Despite herself, Elain giggled. “Afraid of the cold, shadowsinger? Maybe you need a coat as a solstice gift…”   
Azriel’s brows quirked up, but then he smiled, shrugging at the suggestion.   
Elain turned towards him. “As it happens, I actually do still need to do some gift shopping. Maybe I can spare you the embarrassment of getting one from my sister. Plus, I could do with some fresh air…” She gestured to the mess behind her. “I think I’ve seen enough flour and dough for the next couple of hours. If I stay here any longer, I might become a cookie myself.”  
Azriel held out his arm to her. “I would be happy to chaperone you through the city, Elain. I can even make sure you won’t turn into a holiday pastry.”  
Elain’s heart fluttered at his words, the mischievous look in his eyes. She would’ve chided herself for even thinking of it, but she and Azriel had warmed up to each other lately. She could’ve sworn she’d seen him blush a few times, even. The shadows made it hard to doublecheck that, though.   
“Alright then. But you’re flying me through the worst of the snow!”  
Azriel only winked at her, which was so unlike him that she was too stunned to find a quick reply. Once she found her voice back, Azriel had already disappeared into shadows.

Less than half an hour later, they were walking through the heart of Velaris, looking for presents. They soon had a bunch of bags and boxes with jewelry for Amren, paintbrushes for Feyre, a beautiful new dress for Mor, and Illyrian blades for Cassian and Rhysand. She even found a small set of earrings for Nesta. The only person Elain still needed a gift for was Azriel himself.   
“So,” she started. “Is there anything you would like to have as a gift?”  
Azriel’s breath clouded in front of him as he sighed. “I have everything I could wish for, Elain. Plus –“ another one of those mischievous looks – “wouldn’t it spoil the surprise for me if I tell you what I want?”  
Elain fought the urge to shove him. “That’s not fair, Azriel. You have your spies to figure out what we want to have by summer solstice! I could never surpass that if you have such a head start.”  
Azriel chuckled. “Aren’t you the seer? Speaking of an unfair advantage, I’d say you win from all of us.”  
Elain stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at him in exasperation. “You wouldn’t dare! Insufferable Illyrians…”  
Azriel looked at her for a second, taking in her face, flushed from the cold, the utter look of disbelief in her eyes… and burst out in laughter. Elain felt a grin spread on her face – and an idea pop in her head. Azriel’s eyes sparked as he swirled around, lazily walking ahead. “Welcome to the family, Elain…”

For a shadowsinger, Elain had expected him to react faster – but the snowball hit him square in the back of the head. This time, it was Azriel whose face was a display of total shock.   
“Elain Archeron.. Did you just hit me with a snowball?”   
Her only reply was a grin that went from ear to ear. Azriel replied with a grin of his own, slowly turned himself fully toward her. “You’re going to regret that, lady.”  
His snowball hit her in the middle of her nose. A squeal left her throat as it exploded over her face. “AZRIEL!”  
Azriel, however, had double over from laughing.   
“Oh, you’re gonna get that back, shadowsinger!”  
Before she knew it, she and Azriel had launched into a very serious, but very unfair snowball fight. Azriel just kept disappearing and popping up behind her, resulting in her snowballs missing their target, and his consistently smashing against whatever piece of her body that wasn’t covered in snow yet. When one of them hit her bare neck, she yelped from the snow sliding into her coat.   
“Cauldron, that’s cold!”   
Azriel just smirked. “Ready to surrender yet?”  
She met his eyes where he winnowed in front of her. “You wish, shadowsinger. I’m not going to go easy on –”  
SMASH. A snowball came flying out from behind, hitting Azriel in the shoulder. High pitched giggles rose from the bridge, and when Elain turned, she could make out two high Fae children in winter clothing peeking out from behind the stone.   
“Who dares to challenge us?!” Azriel’s voice boomed through the street, but there was only joy in it. More giggles rose from behind the wall, followed by a snowball that landed harmlessly at Elain’s feet. She glanced at Azriel. He only grinned at her and nodded in the direction of the bridge. They both scooped up a handful of snow and launched it towards the bridge. For the second time that day, Elain was in a snowball fight – except this time, she was actually winning.

A little while later, after the kids had waved goodbye, Elain was left with a soaking wet coat and frozen fingers. Azriel took one look at her shivering form, burrowed his eyebrows, and wrapped his arm around her.   
“Let’s get you somewhere warm, shall we? I wouldn’t want you to freeze to death right before the winter solstice. Feyre will never let me live…”  
Elain, however, was so cold that she didn’t care about where they went anymore, as long as it was warm. She let Azriel lead her to a small café that looked out onto the Sidra. Snow stuck to the windows, giving the inside a cozy glow. A fire crackled in the corner of the room, warm enough that Elain finally felt her fingers thawing.   
“Are you feeling a bit warmer already?” Azriel took her in over his cup of mulled wine. In the faint glow from the snowy light, he looked almost concerned.   
Elain nodded. “Yes, although I feel like it might be an entire century before the ice has left my toes.”   
Azriel seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then slid next to her, wrapping is arm around her. “I would hold them for you, but I might freeze myself.”  
Elain pouted. “Then no one can winnow me home. I wouldn’t like that.”  
Azriel laughed, and it warmed Elain more than any fire could. She looked up to him through her eyelashes, taking in the light in his hazel eyes and the tufts of his hair, now all wild from the snowball fight.   
“I had a lot of fun, Azriel. Thank you for coming along with me.”  
He smiled back at her, pulling her a little bit closer to his side. “You make a fine icicle, Elain Archeron.”  
Elain nudged him in the ribs. “You’re insufferable, shadowsinger. I’d almost be glad I haven’t found your gift yet.” And before she could think better of it – before she could tell herself she shouldn’t – she kissed him on the cheek.

And Azriel – Azriel blushed. “Well… I’d say that was a better gift than I could ever have thought of.”  
“Even with your spies?”  
Azriel let out a nervous laugh. “I’d hope my spies wouldn’t say those things out loud, no…”  
Elain’s heart felt like it would jump out her chest. “Why not, Azriel? What do you want?”  
She had never seen Azriel – the ever composed shadowsinger, the silent, unreadable Illyrian – so lost for words. It made her heart flutter, and it made her bold enough to put her hand on his cheek.   
“Would you like to know what I see in the future, shadowsinger?”  
Azriel met her gaze, silently encouraging her to continue. Elain felt every beat of her heart in her throat, beating so loud that she knew Azriel could hear it from where I sat next to her. She let out a shaky breath.   
“I think… I think I see a lot of mistletoe.”  
Azriel blinked – once, twice – and let out a nervous laugh. “Well... let’s not wait for that, please.”

His lips on hers were the best thing she had ever felt. And in the end, it turned out that Elain had been right: Azriel had stopped her under every bush of mistletoe he could find, to kiss her again and again and again. The snow suddenly didn’t feel all that cold anymore.


End file.
